The Return
by ShadeyCharacter
Summary: What if Steve the Wraith hadn't died? What if they just thought he did and he was brought back to Atlantis to be studied only to wake up years later once his body had been restored? What happens when a new alien race threatens the expedition's personnel?
1. Awakening

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any characters, places, races, or ideas associated with the series Stargate Atlantis.

**Claimer: **I do, however, claim all rights to my Searian and the 'new threat'. . .

This is a response to a challenge that, surprisingly enough, I posted. lol. The idea wouldn't stop nagging at me until I started to type.

Beta'ed by the one and only Amaruk Wolfheart of the Wraith. XD …and I much appreciate it! 'flying tackle glomps you'

Alright…I must warn you that I have a terrible habit of not updating for extreme periods of time. So…you have been warned.

The Return

Chapter one: _Awakening_

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Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. The echoes of the frantic person's footsteps echoed down Atlantis's dark corridors.

"I must find somewhere to hide!" she muttered fiercely to herself. "Hiding within our own fucking city – why didn't the computers alert us!" She heard a noise coming from a few corridors back and increased her pace all the more. "Damn!" She jerked to the right and down another hall in the maze known as Atlantis.

The computers hadn't picked up on the attack until it was too late. It was almost as if the alien ships hadn't even existed until they were already within the planet's atmosphere. They were of a completely different design than the Atlantians had seen thus far. The technology was advanced, highly advanced. Maybe even on par with the Ancients. Colonel Carter had ordered an immediate evacuation through the 'Gate, but on attempting to dial the 'Gate the knowledge that there was going to be no escaping Atlantis hit everyone like a rock. The Stargate wouldn't respond to any commands given. It sat lifeless, mocking everyone present. As a matter of fact, they soon found out that the whole of The Great City of Atlantis's main systems was unresponsive. It did not react to the initiation of weapons, the command to self destruct, or the attempt to open the bay doors so they could try to defend the city with the jumpers.

The city, their home for more than three years, laughed at their despair. It would seem that it was to be their tomb.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. The young woman rounded another corner to the right, her auburn elbow-length hair trailing behind her in waves. Luckily, the city's computers were still down from whatever it was this new alien threat had hit it with, so they didn't have the advantage of using the internal life signs detector to find the expedition's personnel. It would hopefully make finding the Atlantians a bitch. Unfortunately for Searian and a few others, they were spotted before they had made it very far into the city. Thus, Searian's current predicament. She wasn't sure where she was going exactly, just that she had to get there, and quick. It was almost as if her body was deciding on where she was going even before she did.

The woman had only recently been recruited to fill the position left open by Kate Heightmeyer. Before being given her security clearance she hadn't even known sentient alien beings existed, let alone that a race of them had lived on Earth hundreds of years before she was even born. Upon arriving at the SGC back on Earth, she had been given a pile of reports to read in order to help her get up to speed on the situation so far at Atlantis and different records on what they knew of the separate alien races they thought she needed to familiarize herself with. Once reaching Atlantis, she was given even more of these files on topics the SGC hadn't breached.

Needless to say, she wasn't prepared for any kind of siege of this caliber so soon after her arrival. It just wasn't fair in her mind, but from what she had read of the files she knew she wasn't the only one that had felt that way. The thought didn't make her feel any better.

Left. Right. Left. Up a short incline on the left and down yet another dark and dreary corridor on the right.

Over her own echoing footsteps she heard her pursuer growing closer.

_I wish it would just leave me ALONE. But that would be too easy, wouldn't it?_ she thought sarcastically.

She turned her attention back to where she was going and noticed a door almost at the end of the corridor on the left. Why this door stood out to her, she didn't know. She had passed many just like it in the halls she had already put behind her. Without thinking, she threw all her effort and energy into getting to that door. For some reason she felt if she could only get inside everything would be all right. A few seconds later, she reached the door and waved her hand across its control panel. She whirled and backed into the room, watching back down the corridor until the door cut off her view. She didn't see her pursuer before the door closed, but she could still hear him. If it was a him. She turned to the room and began to look for anything that would help her defend herself.

"Lab. Great."

Her eyes scanned carefully around the plain room looking for a rod, a pole, a gun… Heck she could dream, couldn't she? There where the usual consoles and screens, a table, and some bubbling test tubes. She froze in her searching of the room when her eyes fell across a stasis pod on the opposite side of the lab.

"Wraith!" she choked through her suddenly very dry mouth.

Inside the pod stood a Wraith. Long pale hair hung just above its waist, contrasting harshly with the black of its clothes. The pale green skin glistened slightly in the gloom of the lab, and its golden eyes were hidden behind closed lids.

Searian had only seen a Wraith with her own eyes twice before, and both times she had been almost too scared to move.

She took a few hesitant steps closer in order to get a better look. It didn't seem to be breathing.

"Dead." Strangely enough, her spirits plummeted a bit at this realization.

The auburn haired girl was shocked back into reality when she heard the door open behind her. She spun, fear overriding her every thought at seeing the shadowy figure in the doorway.

In the gloom, it was hard to see exactly what it looked like. But she did see the look of sadistic pleasure that was plastered across its almost feline face. Then the sudden change to fear when it looked over her shoulder.

The next thing Searian knew, there was the sound of shattering glass coming from behind her and she was knocked rather unceremoniously to the side as a white and black blur flew past her and tackled the creature to the floor.

Her eyes widened when she realized what had happened. The Wraith was NOT dead and it was feeding on the feline-like alien. One of its hands was over the creature's mouth, muffling the horrendous screeches and cries the thing was emitting ,and the other was, of course, draining the very life from its body.

Out of the two times Searian had seen a Wraith, she had _never_ seen one feed, and it terrified her. She watched in horror as the creature began to wither away before her very eyes. It screeched and writhed under the weight of its captor, all the while becoming more and more like the mummies she remembered seeing in museums as a child. Before the process was complete, it began to try and call for help in the most musical voice she had ever heard even with the words being distorted by all the screeching and hissing. Of course, it was so muffled by the Wraith's hand that no one but she and the Wraith could hear it. It only served to scare her more. She had to get as far _away_ from it as possible.

She tried to get to her feet but all she managed was to lift herself slightly before she fell back to the floor. Her ankle had been broken in the fall. She glanced back to the Wraith and watched in utter horror as it released the corpse and began to stand. She couldn't keep it in any longer; her fear was demanding she do something. She screamed.

The instant the sound began to leave her throat the Wraith was upon her. It jerked her from the floor and pushed her roughly against the wall behind her. Its left hand went to Searian's mouth and shut off the scream that had only barely made it past her lips, coming out as a pathetic squeak. Its right held her against the wall by her left shoulder.

"Silence! You will attract them!" it hissed as its face twisted in a look of disdain.

She squeezed her eyes shut in her fear. _I'm going to die now aren't I?_ she thought. Of course, it hadn't really crossed her mind since the city had come under siege, not even while watching the Wraith feed. Sure she had been afraid, but not until this moment did the reality of the situation hit her. A tear slid down her cheek.

The Wraith snorted at the sight and leaned closer. "I am the one your people have labeled Steve." He paused to make certain she was listening. "You will assist me, human."

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There you go, the introduction. So what do you guys think?

Reviews are much appreciated my friends. Lets me know how I am doing and what might possibly need to be improved on. Plot wise or whatever wise for that matter. LOL!

Oh! For future reference, I am always open to new ideas that you guys might want to throw me for the story. XP Feel free to let them fly. I love interactivity! XD


	2. Gift

**Disclaimer: **See chapter one.

**Claimer: **Ditto.

I thank you for all of your wonderful reviews! It made me feel all warm and fuzzy! XD

Beta'ed by Amaruk Wolfheart of the Wraith. I am so grateful to you my friend!

The Return

Chapter two: _Gift_

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Atlantis sat in the middle of an ocean surrounded by three ornamental azure alien ships. The entire scene was immersed in the ethereal silvery glow of the moon which appeared close enough to touch. Stars shown like jewels in the ebony night, and a warm breeze caused the ocean to gently lap at the base of the great city.

By all external appearances, the scene evoked feelings of tranquility and peace…but inside the city, a completely different feeling came to mind: one of panic and fear.

In a less-used section of Atlantis, an odd pair shuffled down the dark corridors toward the city's main control room. Searian was currently being half-carried, half-dragged alongside the tall Wraith. Steve had quickly grown weary of her slow hobble and had taken matters into his own hands. Thus, her current situation. She hadn't protested _too _much. She was obviously still very afraid of the Wraith, but her ankle strongly protested the abuse he put it through. It hurt her terribly. It was more than just a little broken, it was shattered. Curious how fragile the human body could be. Once a few corridors back she had let out a low moan and been immediately rebuked by the irritated Wraith. She hadn't made a noise since.

They had encountered only one more of the strange intruders since leaving the lab in which Searian had discovered the Wraith. He had been only too happy to dispatch that one just as he had the first, quickly draining it of its life. The young woman hadn't watched the second time; she had learned her lesson after seeing the process back in the lab. She still couldn't block out the strangely melodious screams.

Steve came to a quick stop at the end of the corridor, his long white hair fluttering to rest around his lean frame. Keeping himself and the human as much in the shadows as possible, he cautiously scanned the area. After a few minutes of silence, he looked back at the auburn-haired woman. She flinched at the calculating look on his face. Whatever he was thinking probably had something to do with his planand she still hadn't a clue as to what it was. He hadn't told her anything, but then he was a Wraith and probably didn't think her worthy or capable of understanding.

He smirked. She flinched. _What's so funny? I find absolutely nothing funny about this situation._

His smirk widened until he was grinning like a Cheshire cat, fangs bared for all to see. Of course, there was only one there to witness the impressive array of teeth.

"I know perfectly well that your kind are not brainless, human. There is no need to inform you of my strategy. You need not do anything in order for it to succeed," he hissed with a knowing look.

"What…?" Searian stared wide eyed at the Wraith before her. "I didn't…say…a-anything!"

"Not physically." He cocked his head and continued to stare at her with the Cheshire grin.

"Ph-physically…? What do you…!" She paused as realization hit her. "You can read human minds?!"

Steve hissed in amusement. "No… Just yours." The calculating look came into his eyes again. "You are somehow different than the rest of your breed."

"Different?"

"Your thoughts are as clear as water to me. I have never come across a human with such acute telepathy. You were not aware of your gift?" The grin returned.

She was embarrassed at his apparent jab. "N-no… I wasn't." Pink rose to her cheeks.

He snorted and turned his attention back to the corridor ahead. "Your enemy is called the Neolus. They scavenge technology, similar to the machines you called 'Replicators' in your home galaxy. Of course, they have their own advanced technology as well, and they are very efficient in blending all of the different equipment together, creating a seamless whole – as you have already seen. Physically, they are weaker than Wraith. They don't heal as we do."

Searian flinched at the mention of her galaxy. _Oh no._

Steve let out a dark chuckle. "Oh yes, human. I see _everything _your mind has to offer_." _He glanced back at her, smirking. "You will continue to help me _long _after this small endeavor."

The young woman felt like she was going to be sick.

John Sheppard sat with the rest of his team a few corridors down from the jumper bay.

Minutes after the failed attempt to get the jumpers out of the bay to defend the city, the room had been crowded by their alien "guests." They had simply opened the bay doors from the outside and flown in using small azure-colored ships. The ships were strangely shaped – a sort of oval that tapered to a dull point in the back.

The whole situation rather infuriated John, especially after they had fought so hard to get the bay doors open themselves.

"They can't just swoop right in like that. It's gotta be cheating," John whispered from his seat on a crate, staring straight at the entrance to one of the many supply rooms of Atlantis. He shifted his grip on his P-90 to make for a more comfortable position and a clearer shot at the door. His gun hadn't left the door for very long since they first arrived in the room twenty minutes before. "And did you see those ships? Not very threatening at all – they kind of looked like a flattened top."

Ronon gave him a blank look from his crouched position by the door. His gun remained in its holster, though he was ready to reach for it at any time.

"A top is a child's toy. It has a string that connects to the top and a point that sits on the floor. When you pull the string, it spins."

"Doesn't sound very fun to me," Ronon replied with the same blank look.

"If it doesn't include beating someone up, of course not." John shrugged. "Besides…it's a child's toy."

"I don't think making fun of their ships or talking about toys is going to help us get out of this mess," Rodney mumbled anxiously from his corner. He rubbed his arms in an attempt to calm himself. "The city should have picked them up. The recent calibrations I made to the long range sensors magnified their power ten fold. Its been working fine up until now." He crossed his arms agitatedly.

"They have technology we have not seen thus far. It is likely the sensors did not pick them up because of that, is it not?" Teyla spoke softly. She stood close to Sheppard.

Rodney sighed miserably. "Probably… But still, they should have picked up something! An electric disturbance, abnormality…a blob! Something! Even the smallest blip. Three ships can't just be completely invisible! We saw them clear as day on the sensors when they entered the atmosphere!"

"We can be invisible. Why can't they?" Ronon asked, looking up at Rodney.

"Because…" Rodney stood stock still, trying to think of a reason. After a few moments he finished lamely, "It's not fair."

"They most likely dropped whatever they where cloaking themselves with once they entered the atmosphere." John sighed. "And what's not fair is the fact that we are stuck in a food supply room instead of weapon supplies. We only have three P-90s and Ronon's Power Ranger blaster."

Ronon gave John another blank stare.

John shrugged again. "It's a television show."

"Haven't seen that one."

"Well, at least we won't go hungry," Rodney said matter-of-factly, leaning over to pick an apple out of a crate by his side.

Ronon, John, and Teyla stared incredulously at him as he took a large bite out of the shiny red fruit.

"What? I eat when I'm nervous!" Rodney muttered defensively through a mouthful of apple.

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Ahh. Chapter two, short and sweet. Sorry for that but I have found it is easier for me to update with shorter chapters than with a terribly long one. Heh.

Anyway. Are you guys still interested? Tell me what you think! XP

Oh, and remember! I am always open to new ideas. Feel free to let them fly. Interactivity is awesome! XD


	3. Discovered

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Claimer: Ditto.

Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews!!

Beta'ed by SnowFox3. THANK YOU!! XD

(Note: This chapter has been done for sometime. I had not uploaded it because I was waiting for one of my Beta's to finish Beta'ing the chapter. She has still not managed to complete it but I don't want to make you guys wait any longer. There will be a few mistakes in this chapter because the beta process was not completed. I do very much apologize for your long wait.)

The Return

Chapter three:_ Discovered_

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Searian stumbled for the fifteenth time and this time the Wraith let her fall. As a matter of fact it had been his fault: he pushed her out ahead of him and into the corridor intersection. She knelt double on the hard cold floor in the center of the four corridors and winced, her eyes widening, at the pain in her ankle. Her most recent fall had done nothing to sooth her pain. She felt as if her leg from half way down her shin to her toes was on fire. She thought that meant some of her ligaments were torn but she couldn't be sure. Her field of expertise was in mental health after all…and that was nothing like a medical doctor's job.

She gently reached back for her foot and cupped it in her hand. Searian didn't think she could take much more of this pain. It was about all she could focus on right now, and not by choice of course. The pain was making it very hard to concentrate on anything else. She was beginning to see little floating white spots in her vision and she was dizzy. Which would account for why she couldn't keep from stumbling. Though it didn't help the Wraith behind her kept jerking her around like a rag doll either. Or maybe it just seemed like he was because of her ankle. She wasn't sure. She was torn from her internal disaster as she heard a strange lilting hiss to her left.

Her body tensed and she slowly turned her head just enough to be able to see through her waves of auburn hair. The girl's face became a picture of horror. Less than four feet from her stood two Neolus bathed in the moonlight streaming from one of the many skylights over head. The two creatures where not very large. In fact they where probably about the same height as she-only 5'5" or so. Their hair was a glittering charcoal with tiny golden highlights that glinted silver in the light of the moon. And the creatures bodies were taut with corded lean muscles and the skin that stretched over them was a burnt ocher color with a golden sheen. …No wait-the sheen was fur! They were covered with a thin layer of golden fur!

The Neolus' hands where much the same as hers all but for the razor tipped black claws. A movement behind the two beasts caught her eye and as she tried to focus on that movement she noticed the Neolus also had black tails about three quarters of the length of their bodies. Her eyes rose slowly to their faces and a short gasp of air escaped her lips causing her hair to sway gently. Where a human's eyes were white…theirs were black. And the irises of their eyes were just a little bit lighter than the black-a sort of charcoal until the light hit them. Then they were silver. The delicate skin surrounding their eyes was a dark black as well. The rest of their faces could have almost passed for human except for the four fangs that poked out from underneath their thin lips.

Searian tried to shift away from them but a bolt of pain shot up her leg, freezing her. Her vision bled completely white and her head pounded with the force of a drum until the pain began to subside a bit. She couldn't move. She was a stationary target, and even she knew those were harder to hit than a moving one. One of the Neolus started towards her, its tail swinging lazily behind it. The creature held a foot long flat oval shaped sapphire item in its clawed hands and it pressed this to her head once it reached her. She jerked at the contact…whatever it was…it was hot! Her skin seared where it touched her. After a moment the half of the item closest to her began to glow a sickly purple color and a piercing whistle began to emanate from the very shell of the thing.

Just then Steve leaped from the corridor behind her and threw his lithe body into the Neolus that stood over her. He knocked it to the ground and a few feet down the corridor with the impact of the collision. After the two came to a stop he ripped the strange weapon from its clawed fist, grabbed its head in between his hands and hissing, twisted it clear off its body. Bright topaz blood sprayed across the corridor in front of her painting an unearthly canvas.

By this time the other Neolus had recovered from the shock the Wraith's surprise attack had caused and had raised its weapon the end beginning to glow and the awful noise sounding off. Steve leaped backwards avoiding the first wave of purple pulses the Neolus fired off, landing in a crouch a few feet away. The Neolus kept firing and Steve jumped again, this time landing close to Searian.

One of the stray pulses headed straight for the girl and her captor shoved her flat on the floor and out of the line of fire as he leaped towards the creature. The pulse passed right over her head a mere half second after Steve threw her down. Her body shuddered violently as the strange colored light passed over her, missing her by only a couple of inches. She had never felt anything like what she felt from the pulse as it whistled over her and wondered what would have happened had it actually hit.

Searian didn't have to wonder long because one of the pulses hit Steve in the right side knocking him back a foot. The Wraith roared in anger…at least she assumed it was anger because he didn't seem to be hurt. At least not physically. After being hit he grabbed the creature's weapon arm and ripped it straight out of its socket, painting more topaz colored blood on the walls and ceiling but this time to her left. Then he slammed his feeding hand into its chest and Searian jerked her head away as the screaming began echoing down the corridors. Steve didn't even bother to cover the creatures' mouth this time and Searian being curious as to why turned her eyes back to the pair.

Steve had the Neolus pinned to the wall on the left side of the corridor and his other hand was firmly placed against his right side where the blast had hit him. Where before their had been black leather, there was now a hole about the size of a soft ball. It looked like the leather had simply turned to dust where the pulse had hit him. …and what was more disturbing was the skin underneath. It seemed to be decaying. The skin had turned black and porous and browned blood oozed from around his fingers. As far as she knew…Wraith blood was not brown. She choked back bile. But old dead blood was.

As she watched the Wraith feed the wound slowly began to heal. Very slowly…much slower than it should have, especially after how much he had fed this night. It would seem Steve was right about the Neolus not being 'physically' a match for the Wraith, he overpowered them easily enough …but their technology…with it they could severely wound his kind. The weapons caused living flesh to decay. She could see how that would be a hindrance to any living thing…not just the Wraith. As he finished the Neolus off he dropped the husk that had once been its body to the floor and turned back to her, hand still firmly clamped to his wound and face twisted in what she could only assume to be pain.

Steve walked the five paces to her and reached for her left arm, pulling her from the floor and to her feet. White exploded behind her eyes at the pain that shot up her leg from her ankle and a sickening odor she could only guess came from the blood of the two Neolus wafted up her nose causing her to reel and almost lose her balance. She would have fallen had Steve not been holding on to her arm. He then used the same arm to throw her over his shoulder. Searian let out a grunt as his shoulder dug into her stomach, knocking her breath away and causing more bile to rise. She felt so sick. The girl barely heard the Wraith as he spoke.

"You are too slow human! Had you been quicker this would not have transpired!" Steve hissed in anger and Searian tensed across his shoulder as he began to run down the right corridor the moonlight glinting off of his silvery white hair as they passed underneath each skylight.

John was sick of this waiting game. He and his team had been sitting in the same room for the past two and a half hours doing absolutely nothing to help their friends and take back their city. The city was not going to save its self…not this time at least. The Colonel wondered where the fail safes to rid the city of creepy blue flying tops were. John snorted standing from his crate in the back of the room and gazed around at his teammate's faces in the golden glow of the food supplies room.

Rodney had finally stopped eating and now sat hunched down in the left corner of the room. His nerves were frayed…John could tell from the subtle wild look in his eyes. Where another might have missed it, he hadn't. Colonel Sheppard and Rodney had become good friends these past few years and he had learned to read the scientist pretty well. This was different from the normal hypochondriac panicking that McKay was known for. The scientist had a hopeless look about him. He was probably running over all of the possible ways that the four could die. John knew his panic was only made worse by the fact that the scientist knew he couldn't do anything. He had tried before the city fell but not one of his plans had even partly worked to the advantage of the expeditions' personnel. In fact…they hadn't done a thing! Though to give credit to the scientist-there hadn't been much time to do anything. The intruders had appeared so suddenly. John's gaze flickered thoughtfully to another one of his teammates.

Ronon was still in power mode crouched by the door. He hadn't moved an inch the past hour. John wondered if the Satedan ever cramped. He had spoken forty-five minutes earlier and said that it would only be a matter of time before the creatures discovered them. Rodney had replied that he was shocked they had not used the internal censors to find them. The doctor had said that with the ability to freeze the cities' systems at will, the creatures should be able to unlock just one of them easily enough. John had shrugged and Teyla hadn't even made a move to acknowledge that she had heard any of them.

John's attention then switched back across the room to rest on the rigid Athosian. Teyla stood alert beside Rodney's hunched form, her eyes staring piercingly forward. She held her P-90 tightly with one hand while the other rested across the top of the gun ready to spring into action at a moments notice. A sense of foreboding seemed to roll off her small form and John shuddered at the chill in the air.

The Colonel cleared his throat and all eyes turned to him. "I don't know about you but I'm thinking we need to kick some alien butt." In order to emphasize his words he gripped the cold metal of his P-90 tighter, lifting it so it rested at a 90 degree angle to his body.

Ronon grunted his approval. "We need more weapons."

"Yea. My sentiments exactly. We need to get to one of the Weapons supplies rooms." John agreed with a nod.

"John…we have another problem as well…" Teyla's smooth voice brought everyone's attention quicker than shattering glass. She hadn't spoken since Rodney finished off his first apple.

"What other problem?" Rodney rushed standing in order to get a better look at the dark skinned woman's face.

Ronon and John both waited expectantly for her to continue.

She nodded at no one in particular her bronze hair sweeping across her bare shoulders. She had been in the midst of training with Ronon when the city fell under attack so she was still in her brown training clothes. "…there is a Wraith in Atlantis." A chill dropped around all present. Not even a breath could be heard in the room.

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Again I apologize for the excruciatingly long wait you guys had to go through. I am almost finished with Chapter four now so I don't imagine you will have to wait this long for the next chapter.


	4. Dreams

A day you thought would never come, hmmm? I present to you, Chapter 4 of The Return.

The Return

Chapter 4: _Dreams_

The stars shown brightly in the vast velvet expanse of space. When looking at the stars, one tends to feel small and unimportant, much like a speck of dust that is swept away so casually from that favorite statue or model. It floats away without anyone knowing of it's singular existence.

Searian felt the same small insignificance as she stood now watching the stars flash continuously past her. Every glittering speck of light held a certain importance in life, though none could really place their importance. It was rare that one could spot their own star in the patch work of life that stretched as far and farther than the eye could see. The occasional life would see a small flash of that importance but it would disappear back into the mass of coalesced light just as quickly as it had come.

Frowning she turned from the pale green tinted window and took a step toward the ribbed membrane like door in the wall to her left only to stop upon seeing the Wraith at the opposite side of the room. He leaned casually against the column behind him. The spiraling chords of light that wound through the sculpted green and black textured surface cast a warm glow across the Wraith's pale hair and skin. His hair looked almost as if rivers of pure molten gold ran through it. She smiled at the observation and took another slow purposeful step forward catching the Wraith's reptilian like eyes as she did so.

They stood gazing at each other for a long quiet moment before a knowing smirk stretched across his blue green features and his gaze swept over her shoulder to watch the stars through the window embedded in the living wall behind her. Perhaps he too was looking for his importance, though she doubted it, Wraith did not live alone and closed off from their own as the human race did. Their strands were connected, unlike the individual stars of humans, into one giant spiraling strand. Though they still had their individuality, if one cared to look. Even those that left the Hives…or were taken from them…were still connected. It was probably the reason Wraith did not panic as humans did when away from home.

Shaking her head with a chuckle, she swaggered playfully the rest of the way to the door. As the door hissed open to reveal the dark webbed corridor beyond she cast one last look back at the star gazing Wraith before she stepped out into the cool breeze that constantly cycled through the open sections of the Hive.

Bright emerald eyes flew open to stare wildly around the dimly lit room. Searian's head reeled with the memory of her most recent dream. She could still see the dream Wraith's face so clearly when she closed her eyes. It was almost as if his image was etched into the back of her eye lids to forever haunt her. This was not the first time she had seen this Wraith either. Shortly after arriving in Atlantis she had started having dreams and visions of this particular Wraith. She had thought that they had stemmed from the many horrifying reports she had read on the race. Just nightmares she had told herself. It was common knowledge that the people of Atlantis had nightmares of the Wraith all the time, and who could blame them? They were a frightening group of people that fed on her own.

There was one tiny flaw in her theories. The supposed nightmares were never actual nightmares, they were dreams! She was never afraid when she was in this dream world. She always felt comfortable in the presence of this Wraith and the fear always came after she would awake and realize that the dream was so terribly wrong.

'_They are nothing but dreams, nothing to worry about. …Just dreams spun from stress…that is all.' _She tried to reassure herself as she took steady calming breaths.

Confusion rolled off of her in almost tangible waves as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. As she did so, she banished the dreams of the Wraith to the back of her mind…as much as she could anyway. Her chest heaved sporadically as she attempted to take in the dark surroundings of the room. The only real light cast in the space was the faint blue glow from the door's control panel crystals. She lie sprawled across a black topped table off to the right of and facing the door. Searian noted that her ankle wasn't hurting her as badly as it had been before she lost consciousness. For the most part, the only real sensation she felt from it was a hot tingling sensation, but she knew if she attempted to move it that that would no longer be the case.

"Stupid Wraith." She muttered under her breath. She was not a huge fan of being manhandled. Hell, what girl was…and much less with a broken ankle that happened to be in that state BECAUSE of the one that had been manhandling her. _'This really hasn't been my day.'_

She had been under the impression that Steve had been headed to the cities' main control room. Apparently she had assumed wrong as she knew that the room they now occupied was anything but the 'gate room.

'_Of course it makes since that he doesn't want to go to the control tower. That is most likely where the…the Neolus are most concentrated.' _She shuddered at the thought of the feline aliens. At the moment…they scared her more than the Wraith behind her. He had, at least, made it very clear he wasn't planning on killing her anytime soon.

Turning her attention away from her inner wonderings, she began to survey her surroundings once more.

Across the other side of the room against the wall was what appeared to be another table similar to the one she sat on, though this one was a bit smaller. A computer sat on this along with several smaller shapes that she couldn't quite make out. The dark silhouettes of these objects didn't bring anything familiar to her mind.

She pivoted a bit to the left to look over her shoulder at what she could see of the rest of the room. A large dark shape took up a vast majority of the center of the room and there were several tables(at least she assumed they were tables)that sat at irregular intervals around it. Standing directly in front of the dark shape in the middle facing away from her was Steve. She knew it was the Wraith because the blue light from the control panel glittered and reflected in his white hair. There was really no mistaking him. After a moment a yellow light suddenly flared to life off to the left of the tall male throwing the room into a brighter glow. The object the light issued from was a translucent crystal shaped thing that had thin tendrils of what almost appeared to be veins or nerves running all over it. Attached to one end of the device was a fleshy umbilical like rope that trailed over the edge of the surface it sat on and dropped out of sight into the shadows behind the table.

Now that the room was illuminated a bit better, she could see that the large dark shape in front of her captor was actually the remains of a Wraith Dart. The front point of the craft lie a few feet behind Steve on the polished floor of the lab. As she brought her attention back to the Wraith she noticed that Steve had his arms stuck into the fleshy entrail-like tissue of the dart's main section up to his elbows where the point of the ship had been ripped asunder. He had apparently managed to activate some hidden power supply or something. That would explain why the crystal thing was glowing. She remembered reading about this dart in one of the reports she had been asked to review upon reaching Atlantis.

Dr. McKay and Lt. Cadman had been scooped up in it's culling beam shortly before the ship had been shot down. The ship simply hadn't had enough power left stored to rematerialize both people. Due to a malfunction in the ship's systems after the crash both people's consciousnesses had been rematerialized in the same body. Once Dr. Zelenka and Dr. McKay's science team brought the ship back to Atlantis they discovered that they could not properly power up the dart and rectify the situation due to the fact that the ship's main power capacitor had been destroyed. They finally managed to get the ship to work properly long enough to dematerialize Dr. McKay's body and the two consciousnesses into the ship and then rematerialize the two back out into their proper bodies with the Stargate's control crystal.

This Wraith apparently knew something about the craft that Atlantis' scientists did not.

'_Of course…why wouldn't he…he is a Wraith and this is his technology.' _She admonished herself. _'…but why would he want anything to do with a busted up dart when he could try and take a jumper instead. Not that it would do him any good…'_

"Unless the Wraith isn't trying to fly away." Steve interrupted her thoughts with a dry chuckle.

The auburn haired woman groaned quietly to herself. _'I forgot about that. How do I keep them out of my head.'_

The Wraith mad a noise that sounded suspiciously like a purr of contentment. "You don't, You do not have the strength little human."

Searian snorted derisively. "That was an rhetorical…thought _Steve_" Turning quickly away from the Wraith she lay herself back out on the table again. The pain in her ankle had begun to spike uncomfortably and the longer she sat upright the worse it got. Nausea had chosen to rear it's ugly head and her vision had started to swim.

After a moment of silence she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "It doesn't matter…Atlantis wont let you go anywhere…" She paused. She wasn't quite certain of that. "…and even if you do manage to get away from this city with me…I will not cooperate." She knew he could hear her. She had read in the reports that Wraith had exceptional hearing.

The male behind her just chuckled and continued with what ever he was doing.

The little scientist ran down the empty corridors throwing quick frantic looks over his shoulder. So far he hadn't seen or heard any pursuers but that didn't mean he was going to let his guard down while he was out in the open. The shadows his body cast on the floors as he ran passed moonlit windows caused him to shudder involuntarily.

Door after door flew past in his peripheral vision as he ran. None of these even slightly interested the man. Every fiber of his being was set upon reaching only one door and he was determined to reach it. The only sounds his hearing registered were his own ragged breathing and the rhythmic pounding of his racing feet on the smooth floors. Satisfied he still wasn't being followed he allowed him self a small fleeting smile. He had made it this far without being noticed. Perhaps he could reach his destination undeterred. Panting with the strain of his continuous pace he clutched the data pad he carried in his arms tighter to his chest.

The corridor veered to the right and he continued barreling forward only to trip in his haste. He threw out his left arm to catch himself as he fell and knocked his glasses askew in the process. His knees impacted the cold floor hard enough to send shockwaves of electric pain shooting through his spine. Letting loose a hiss of pain, he reached his right arm, the one still clutching the data pad, up and with two fingers straightened his glasses. With his left hand he swept his matted sweat soaked hair out of his eyes.

"chladně přijmout hloupý nemotorný. JÁ dělostřelectvo domnívat se."

Quickly pushing himself up onto his knees he nearly let out a cry of shock as he spotted what had caused his fall. He had tripped over a corpse. …a very dry corpse…and upon closer inspection he saw holes in the thing's chest. They were in the perfect arrangement of a hand. There was only one thing he knew of that left marks like that.

"Ono spravedlivý dr§enˇ prospěch lépe does ono ne?"

Glancing around nervously, the tiny Czech hauled himself to his feet again. There was no time to waste. He had to finish the task set him by Colonel Carter. The Expedition needed a fighting chance especially now that it appeared they had more than just the strange new invaders to worry over.

Sorry guys. I haven't felt like writing for a very long time. I even stopped writing my original stories. ._. Anyway…I know this didn't make up for the year or so wait you went through, but…it is an update. *nods*

*damn…stupid, clumsy…I cannot believe

*It just keeps getting better doesn't it?


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